General Debate

I move, That the House take note of miscellaneous business.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. I want to take the time to acknowledge that up and down New Zealand there will be people who are hurting and struggling with mental health on any given day, but one in five New Zealanders in any given year struggle with their mental health. Four in five of us will struggle throughout our lives with a mental health challenge, so it is of importance to note this awareness week for all of us. There will be people in our lives who are struggling, who have never told us; there will be people who are quite open about it, and it is wonderful because they’ve been able to express their feelings and be able to reach out for support. But there will also be those people that we have never suspected that are struggling, because they show great confidence in life—and I know many people like this, who do actually struggle in silence.

I want to share a story of a person that I met earlier this year, because I think it paints the picture of the mental health challenges that we have in New Zealand. I was out at dinner and—[Interruption]

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! Order! It’s exceptionally rude to stand with the back to the speaker and to the Chair, and especially when one’s shirt is hanging out, it makes it even worse.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wanted to share a story about a man that I had met earlier this year. I was out at dinner and I got talking to the table next to me, as you do. I thought that we were just going to exchange pleasantries, but I asked this person genuinely, “How has your year been?” I was expecting him maybe to talk about work or something, but he just said to me, “It’s been really hard. My daughter has an eating disorder and she’s not getting better.” I could tell that he was clearly struggling, because this was the biggest concern on his mind. I’m just asking, this week: please, everybody, reach out and check in with people who you may never suspect to be struggling, because it could be a conversation that you have that really helps to pull someone from a dark place that day.

We have heard from business owners who are struggling through COVID lockdowns with anxiety and over the stress of their businesses. We’ve also heard from students who are struggling with that fear of the unknown for the future and from parents who are really quite worried about their children’s mental health. We’ve also heard from grandparents who have been isolated and feeling extreme loneliness during this time. So mental health definitely affects all of us.

There is a continuum of care of mental health that we need to address in New Zealand. I think carers and nurses do a fantastic job in our mental health space. They genuinely want the best outcome for every person who comes through their doors. I’ve had the privilege of visiting a few mental health facilities in New Zealand and seeing that for people where it is their home for life, these carers are their family. For people who are in community suicide watch, for example, these people provide support, security, and peace at a time of mental distress.

But, unfortunately, good care isn’t there for everybody. I heard from a man who told me that the care that he received was like a flea on an elephant’s back and that under his DHB there was no other provider for him to access. So we need to do better to help people when they are reaching out for support. We have a lack of choice and accountability in the system. We need to have a proper system that takes care of people and puts people at the heart of mental health and addiction care.

The ACT Party’s solution to this is to empower people seeking help, to have a service that is tailored to their needs. Mental Health and Addiction New Zealand would be a new agency, a centralised agency that would be the only central interface for mental health and addiction care throughout New Zealand. It would develop expertise in evaluating data and evidence of what works, where the money goes, and to whom, because we know that there are services that work that should be given more money, and services that don’t that are being propped up by DHBs not holding them to account.

We need to do better for the wellbeing of all New Zealanders and making sure to ask that question: are we getting the best value for our mental health dollar? Thank you, Mr Speaker.

It became clear from the very earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic that there were no costless decisions facing any Government in the world. In New Zealand, as we looked around the world and we saw the increasing hospitalisations and death rates in other countries, the Government decided quickly that we needed to move against that. That meant investing significant sums of money to support New Zealanders to stay home, to be able to stay attached to their jobs. At no point in this process did we take any of those decisions lightly.

As we now look, 18 months into the pandemic, New Zealanders can be proud of the approach that they have taken to COVID-19. It is one that has left us in a position of having one of the lowest mortality rates from COVID-19 in the world, one of the lowest hospitalisation rates from COVID-19 in the world, one of the fewest days of restrictions of any country in the world, and an economy that has thrived to the extent that today, Standard & Poor’s indicate that New Zealand and Singapore are the only two countries in the Asia-Pacific that they forecast to continue growing through the second half of 2021.

Each of those decisions came with a cost itself. Some of that cost is borne by everyday New Zealanders who have to abide by alert level restrictions, some of it is borne by businesses who are restricted in the amount that they can trade, and some of it is borne by New Zealanders offshore who cannot easily return to New Zealand. But all of that sacrifice is worth it today when we can say that, tragically, it is 27 people who have died—but it is only 27 people who have died.

We have a plan to reconnect New Zealanders to the world. We announced it at the beginning of August. It is a plan that continues the careful and cautious approach to balance the risks that we face with making sure that New Zealand comes through this pandemic together. It is a careful plan and it is one that we’re rolling out, and it stands in direct contrast to the risky, rushed, and reckless job we saw come out from the National Party today. Judith Collins called it “vigorous suppression”, having clearly mixed up her caucus notes with her COVID notes. Her approach, and the National Party’s approach today, should not come as any surprise, because throughout this pandemic, we have seen the National Party flip-flop around and try and move too quickly. They’re like a group of children in the back seat of the car yelling, “Are we there yet?”

It’s a global pandemic, it’s still going, and we continue to need an approach that carefully balances all of the considerations, not one that comes out as the National Party did today, with no numbers—no numbers about how many people they expect to come in when they open up the borders; no numbers about what that means for hospitalisations or for deaths. But we can help them here, because they said they based their plan on the United Kingdom’s. Well, if we compare that, using a per head of population measure, that would mean, for example, 16,000 cases a week, 460 hospitalisations a week, 54 deaths a week. These aren’t the numbers you’ll see in the National Party’s documents today, because they’ve rushed it out. They want to get ahead of the game, they say. All that does is expose New Zealanders to risk.

And we’ve heard a lot over this day about what a Kiwi Christmas is about. Well, for most New Zealanders, that’s spending time with their families, that’s making sure that they can enjoy what a summer is in New Zealand, and all of that is at risk from the plan that the National Party put up in front of us today. If there’s one thing that Judith Collins achieved today, it’s to rewrite the old Christmas tune: on the first day of Christmas, National gave to me: COVID. That’s where their nursery rhyme ends today, when it comes to the National Party. On this side of the House, what we want for New Zealanders is a continuation of the things that make people want to come back to New Zealand for Christmas—that we look after people, that we value people’s lives, that we support their businesses.

We have, as all countries in the world have, had to meet an enormous one-in-100-year challenge. There are no costless decisions. There are no easy decisions. But what we don’t need is risky, rushed, and reckless policies that the National Party are promising today. What this country knows is that this Government will continue to support them and their families to come out the other side of COVID-19 stronger, as we have shown over the last year.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Tēnā koutou e te Whare. I want to tell two sides of a housing story, because just in the last day, we’ve seen the latest CoreLogic data update: from 1 September 2020 to 1 September 2021, house prices increased by as much as 48 percent in every one of the 983 suburbs covered. Only 24 suburbs in the entire country saw increases of less than $50,000. The annual living wage in New Zealand is less than $50,000. Now, I know many people are aware that house price growth has been unsustainable, and it increased significantly in the wake of our initial lockdowns due to COVID. This is an understandable result of the increase in liquidity that was put out there by the Reserve Bank to try and keep the economy going. The problem here is that it’s exacerbating wealth inequality. Young people, Māori, Pasifika people—anyone who’s a renter is being rapidly left behind. I know that the Government is aware of this problem and has taken steps to address it, but they simply are not going far enough or fast enough to address this horrific inequality. I realise that the whole problem started several decades ago. The very fact that we talk about a housing market is a problem. The fact that we talk about getting on the ladder is a problem. Housing is a human right.

The other side of the housing problem we’ve seen today is the large increase in COVID cases that were reported today that are linked to transitional housing. When people are in poverty and they don’t have secure, affordable housing, there will be other problems, and particularly during a pandemic. This is not unique to the COVID pandemic. There are other problems: rheumatic fever, there are problems where people can’t address their substance abuse problems if they aren’t in secure housing, kids can’t get integrated into a school if the family’s constantly needing to move because they don’t have affordable, secure housing. People who are struggling on low incomes with precarious jobs and precarious housing are also struggling with things like high energy costs. It costs too much for them to heat their home, and that leads to a whole host of other health issues, not to mention exacerbating emissions from electricity use as long as we don’t have a 100 percent fully renewable grid.

So right now in Aotearoa New Zealand, housing is the biggest driver in wealth inequality, and we do need urgent action. There are a number of solutions that the Green Party has put forward for a very, very long time. Obviously, we do need more housing, but it can’t just be more housing anywhere and it can’t be just more housing by the private market. I acknowledge the Government has taken steps to scale up the public house build. It’s still not at the levels that we saw some decades ago on a per capita basis, so we need to increase the amount that Kāinga Ora is able to borrow in order to scale up development. But they also need to be working more with iwi and enabling papakāinga housing. Just because it doesn’t fit into the Western model that Kāinga Ora might be used to evaluating doesn’t mean it doesn’t play a critical role in solving our housing crisis.

So we need to do more to enable community housing trusts, co-housing, and it’s vitally important that the housing supply that is provided is linked to infrastructure. This is where I know some of the other Opposition parties talk about the housing crisis as though it will be solved simply by freeing up zoning, allowing greenfields development anywhere. There’s no point having affordable housing if you don’t have affordable transport to jobs and access to education, to amenities. This is where we actually need a much more integrated, local government - led approach to structure planning so that developments can be provided in an integrated way, so we aren’t simply filling up greenfields north and south of Auckland or north of Wellington or outside of Christchurch with houses where the households will have to own two, three, four cars to get anywhere. Perhaps the housing seems cheaper and the banks more willing to loan on it, but if people are spending more on transport, it has the same impact on their income. So we need urgent action, and a wealth tax or a capital gains tax—

Order! Order! The member’s time has expired.

No matter where we are in New Zealand, each and every one of us has a role to play in our COVID-19 response and recovery, and vaccinations are our golden ticket to a life where we can be freer from the restrictions that we’re experiencing now. I would like to take the opportunity—and I know we all would—to thank the millions of people who have come forward to receive their vaccination. Over 5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered so far, and it’s great to see so many people that are banding together to encourage everyone 12 and over to get vaccinated. It’s amazing and wonderful to see all the innovation that’s coming forward and to see communities bonding together to encourage those members of the public to come forward. We’ve seen the buses. We’ve seen my colleague here, Tāmati Coffey. I saw on your page, recently, hāngī being delivered out with each vaccine—how innovative—and I saw a big line-up of people wanting to get that vaccine at that time, too.

Getting vaccinated and encouraging loved ones to also get vaccinated is our best protection from COVID-19. That’s my why. It’s my why of why I am vaccinated. It’s because I care deeply about my loved ones, and I want them to experience the freedoms that we all deserve.

While relentlessly working, though, towards those freedoms, this Government is also looking after those who are being hit hard by COVID-19, and, as Minister for Women, I have recently announced a $2 million community fund to support vulnerable women and girls adversely affected by COVID-19. The Government has acted quickly and rapidly in this space to look after those who are most vulnerable, and I would like to acknowledge the previous speaker, the Hon Julie Anne Genter, who started that fund last year in the first of our nationwide lockdowns. It proved to be an incredibly popular and successful fund. It is $2 million, and it funded over 155 organisations and helped and supported over 10,000 women and their families who were really struggling through the lockdown last year, which is exactly why this Government has instigated and started that fund once again.

While there are other Government funds that will support vulnerable New Zealanders, including women, through schemes such as the wage subsidy, we know that there are additional gender-based needs. These could include things like helping with leaving an abusive partner, and, very sadly, we know that that has seen an increase. Some of our refuges have seen an increase of domestic and sexual violence over the lockdown times. So the fund can be used for things like help with leaving an abusive partner, culturally appropriate supports for networks for migrant women, mental health support for LGBT-plus women, and a lack of access to basic toiletries—some things that some of us take for granted, but they are an exceptionally gendered problem during these times that makes those women so vulnerable.

The funding is to support organisations who work to improve outcomes for women and girls and who are seeing an increased demand for services and/or reduced resources because of COVID-19. We also know that some of our grassroots organisations who get very little other funding or Government funding do struggle over lockdowns and in times of lockdowns because other funding sources are prohibited to them during that time. So that is why we want to act quickly to support those organisations, who see so much hardship on the front line.

I do want to mention the objectives of the funding very briefly here towards the end, because the funding applications are open at the moment. I encourage organisations to make an application, but it does close this Friday, which is why I want to be clear on the objectives of the fund. They are to prioritise grassroots investments and making sure funds are spent to improve outcomes for women where they are most needed; to support women in all their diversity who face intersectional challenges within their community, such as Māori and Pacific; and to support the Government priorities such as ensuring healthy and safe communities, reducing family and sexual violence, and improving child wellbeing—and I remind people that it’s open until 1 October.

Voters and people watching this debate at home on their television or listening on their radio will have observed that when the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister come to this House hours after the National Party has released its 10-point plan for reopening New Zealand, and they come to the House as snarky and as irritable and as edgy as they were today—voters will know that it sends a message that, actually, the Opposition is the one that has the plan for the opening of New Zealand and bringing it back and removing us from the hermit kingdom.

When that doyen of the press gallery, none other than Barry Soper, says in an article headed today “Labour looks rattled and PM’s under pressure”—and he says “The Government is running out of fingers to plug the holes in the dyke”. He mixes his metaphors, because then he goes on to say, “It’s as though the stable door’s been ripped off its hinges and the horse is nowhere in sight. Everyone’s being caught by surprise with the Government being about as transparent as a brick wall.” That’s when people will notice. When someone of Barry Soper’s esteem and long standing in this place points out the truth about how this Government is floundering around, people notice.

It was this time last week that the good folk of the Upper Hauraki in my electorate were in a state of confusion and concern and worry because they had had COVID delivered to them—delivered to them, actually, by the Department of Corrections. There they were, a good community, a close-knit community, a small community, on the Auckland side of the Firth of Thames. In Mangatangi, in Kaiaua, in Miranda / Pūkorokoro—in that lovely area, that part of the Firth of Thames, they had had thrust upon them a bespoke level 4 lockdown. I listened to the Prime Minister deliver the bespoke level 4 lockdown to that community, and she made it sound as if it was a gift from upon high to those people—that they should somehow be grateful for the deliverance of a bespoke level 4 lockdown, once the Department of Corrections had delivered into their community a patched Black Power gang member, complete with a positive COVID case. Having infected members of the family and the whānau there, and pupils that had attended the local Mangatangi School, the community was thrust into this lockdown.

Well, that took place, and then we had a bizarre situation where at 9.30 on the evening when the level was reduced from 4 to level 3, a communiqué came out from the COVID boffins who announce these things at 9.30 in the evening and said that the level will drop to level 3 at 11.59 that that evening. So only a couple of hours’ notice—completely hopeless. At that point they had a southern boundary but not a northern boundary. So they were free to go anywhere north of the southern boundary at Maramarua but nowhere south, and that created confusion.

Then what happened is that we had a further reduction in their level: they dropped down to level 2. Well, what that meant then is that the old boundary was back in place. So during that period of time, that 48 hours or so, all sorts of things had happened. I spent most of last week dealing with cases where confused, worried, concerned constituents who were now on one side of a border that was different a few hours from the previous border—people who had bereavements, that had relatives in palliative care, that had jobs and work to do, and in some cases very concerning situations involving child custody, where the boundaries had changed, and no opportunity to make good on that.

But the real problem was the Department of Corrections, who, through their systemic failure, were unable to cope with a border situation that meant that notwithstanding they had opposed bail for this patched—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! I apologise for interrupting the member, but I am going to require the Clerk to ring the bell as there is not a Minister present. Oh, sorry, sorry. The Hon Meka Whaitiri, I apologise—you’re so far away in these circumstances.

It’s the mask, Mr Speaker. So here we had the Department of Corrections clearly following a process that was put in place pre-COVID—that they would deliver to the home a bailed person from the Mt Eden Corrections Facility—and they clearly hadn’t changed their process to adopt for COVID. In the House last week, under questioning two days in a row from me, the Minister, Kelvin Davis, was simply unable to account for that. Well, that’s not good enough. It’s not good enough for the good people of Pūkorokoro-Miranda, for Kaiaua, or for Mangatangi. They deserve better from a Government that should have a plan, doesn’t have a plan—they’re welcome to use the National Party plan delivered today.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a pleasure to rise and take a call in the general debate today. I want to begin my contribution by acknowledging all of those in Auckland. Aucklanders are making the sacrifices for us all at the moment while the majority of New Zealanders get to enjoy quite relative freedoms whilst they do not. It’s their sacrifice that will allow us to eventually be able to reopen and move about the country as we once were, prior to this. They are doing the heavy lifting for the rest of this country and so I acknowledge you. I know that it is absolutely not easy for many of those people in Auckland who are finding it quite difficult in I think it’s 40-something days in lockdown, so we support you and we acknowledge you for all the work that you are doing for us.

I’d also really like to acknowledge all our essential workers—I’d like to name a few—particularly those who work in our supermarkets, whether it be serving us as we purchase our groceries, whether it be those that are having to be security on the doors, and actually having to deal with a few New Zealanders that can at some times be quite rude and impolite. So thank you to all of you who are doing those jobs.

I also want to acknowledge and thank our vaccinators. Our vaccinators out there are working really long hours. They’re doing an incredible job working towards keeping us all safe.

I also want to acknowledge our primary producers, because we know that our rural communities, our farmers, as they can continue to work as essential workers, are what is keeping our economy ticking along. So I think it’s important that we do acknowledge them. I have a large number of those primary producers in my electorate in—

💬 Hon David Bennett: It’s going to only be for another two months—ha, ha!

—Rangitata, and I can see that Mr Bennett agrees with me; that’s great. Great to hear, thank you, Mr Bennett.

💬 Hon David Bennett: It won’t last very long, though, Jo.

Thank you, Mr Bennett.

💬 Hon Member: A good Labour electorate.

That’s right, a good Labour electorate.

💬 Hon David Bennett: Won’t last very long.

Thank you. Thank you for that support, Mr Bennett; I do appreciate that!

It’s really interesting to note that after last year when we went into lockdown because of our COVID situation at that time, just prior to this one—I note that in Timaru the economy was ticking along and spending was up higher than it was prior to our last lockdown. In part, a lot of that is down to our primary producers, so I acknowledge you.

We do know that businesses are doing it really, really tough at the moment, some more than others, and that is why the Government has stood up support for those businesses in the form of wage subsidies that I know are extremely important in order to keep people employed during this difficult time. We have the resurgence payment available and small-business loans, and I do encourage businesses that are eligible to make use of those.

But vaccination is our way out of the situation that we find ourselves in at the moment. I do encourage everyone to get out, get vaccinated. It is simple. It is easy. I’ve had my first vaccination and I have my second one this coming Friday. And we know that children over 12 years old now are eligible and able to be vaccinated. Please do it. It is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones, to be able to get our economy back up and running as it once was, and to be able to move about in our communities in a safe way. So please do get vaccinated. That is our key to being able to open up our borders and this Government has a plan to reopen its borders in a safe, managed way, and we do know that vaccination is our first step towards having this happen.

Unlike National’s, whose off-the-hoof plan—it seems to be very light in detail. It seems to be very risky. And I don’t believe that there’s really any modelling to back up what it is that they are supposedly planning to do. They would consider allowing up to over 12,000 people into our country per day with no or reduced isolation. We have worked far too hard and sacrificed far too much to throw it away over some off-the-hoof plan that members opposite are proposing, should they ever get back into Government, which I believe will be a very, very long time.

This Government has a safe plan. We all have a part to play. So get out and get vaccinated. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I’m going to talk today about lockdowns as well—COVID seems to be the theme of the day. But I want to focus on a medical practice in West Coast-Tasman. I had a chat with the co-owner and practice nurse at that clinic yesterday, and my heart broke for them. They employ 10 people at that practice, and they are vital to the community that they work in. They’re huge community contributors, and they are a critical part of the healthcare system in West Coast-Tasman. But they haven’t had a holiday for over two years, and the reason for that is that they have been using the skills of an offshore GP who comes to New Zealand every year. He has a great holiday here, because he loves New Zealand and he, at the same time, is able to give relief to the doctor and the practice nurse so they can have a break. But, of course, he’s been locked out, and he’s been locked out through the choked managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) system that is operating here in New Zealand.

But these guys have had no relief over the last couple of years, and have reached the end of their tether. That’s what was heart-breaking: they’ve been bogged down by the restrictions that yo-yoing in and out of lockdown—remember the yo-yoing? We weren’t going to have yo-yoing because we were going to go hard and fast in March last year. Well, we’ve yo-yoed in and out of various levels of restrictions for the last 18 months, and what’s happening now is they are finding it most difficult to maintain their energy—they have had enough.

But it’s not only just for them. It’s for other industries and businesses across the South Island. For some unknown reason—and we don’t argue with the lockdown restrictions, but we don’t understand them. So my colleagues from the South Island joined me in writing to the Prime Minister asking for the rationale, asking for the expert evidence that has been delivered to her so that she can make those decisions. Because everybody has trusted in those decisions and has played their part, but the team of 5 million, and this GP and their practice nurse, they need some time on the bench. But they can’t plan for that now, because they’ve got no one to relieve them, and there’s just not a surplus of locum GPs floating around this country.

So in terms of un-choking this MIQ facility, what happened then? The Government last week announced their big plan was to launch their “lotto lobby”. And so what they’ve got now is 27,000 - odd people trying to find 3,000 spaces in MIQ. And if you work it out over the three months that were allocated, it’s about 35 beds a day that they are releasing, and now, of course, we’ve got 20,000 - odd people on a waiting list in the “lotto lobby”, and it’s going to be just luck of the draw whether they will ever find a space. But I was able to say to this doctor and their practice nurse last night, “There is hope”. Because today, National launched their plan that shows New Zealand there is a way out of this dilemma that the Labour Party seems determined to keep us locked into. We will be opening up, and that is the plan that National has launched today.

But it isn’t just about unblocking the choked MIQ system; it is also about opening up the economy. If we don’t open up the economy, our children definitely—definitely our children—but our grandchildren and great-grandchildren are going to be paying the price. This Government, up until the end of May, was borrowing $14 million a day. So this country is still being anaesthetised to the economic pain, and once that anaesthetic wears off it is going to hurt this country. We now, at the end of May, owed $101,000 million. Now, if places like that hospitality sector on the West Coast, in Fox and Franz, Haast, even in Golden Bay, and other places that are hurting—that GP practice is hurting. We want this Government to open up this country. National has given them the tonic to do that—

💬 SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member’s time has expired.

Xiexie, Mr Speaker. Look, it’s always good to take a call in the general debate, and especially today, I have to say, because I’m here to share some good news and words of encouragement. And it’s all around the vaccination, because on the day where we hear the news that the National Party have released their alternative plan, that’s pretty dreary, we all need some good news in our lives. And I have to say that we are united and focused on our recovery for our communities.

We have a hard-working team here in this country—the team of 5 million. That’s right—the team of 5 million. And 5 million is a milestone that was reached earlier this week, actually, where we delivered the 5 millionth dose of the vaccine to our community. That’s based on a plan that actually works, and I’m proud of the efforts of people in this House, and I’m proud of the efforts of people in our communities all around the motu, because we all, actually, have a role to play.

The Deputy Prime Minister referred to the alternative plan earlier this afternoon. I have to say, when I was actually looking and listening to this 10-point plan, I wondered why it was around 10 points, and suggest that perhaps that might be just enough for one point per member in the National caucus to take some responsibility for. But the plan itself is calling for an early Christmas present, and that is COVID rampant in the community. They accept it over there—they accept that that’s what that Christmas present will be all about, but we on this side say, simply, that it is irresponsible, it is dangerous, and it is downright sloppy—downright sloppy. So we will have no part of that.

I want to give a shout-out to all the hard-working people in communities all around New Zealand, but, in particular, to those who are in Tāmaki-makau-rau, in Auckland. Our aroha—our love—and our thanks are with you and your community and our community at this time.

My colleagues have touched on some of the innovation that we are seeing all around the country. We’re seeing vaccinations take place in traditional forms, through GPs and other clinics, through pharmacies, and through mass clinics, actually, that pop up in supermarkets and malls and other places all around the place as well. But we also see this fleet that is emerging—a fleet of buses with different names so that we can engage with our communities—the innovation is so pleasing and welcoming to see.

I also think that it’s appropriate that we acknowledge and thank those employers who are doing the right thing, who are encouraging their employees to get the vaccine, to get vaccinated, knowing that for them and their workplaces, and their whānau, this will make a huge difference for them personally but also to them collectively, as well.

Closer to home, I want to thank my colleagues in the Pasifika caucus. You know, about a week ago, I didn’t know what a Reel or a Remix was, but my colleague Barbara Edmonds was able to upskill me in that area. I have to say that the social media is getting a little bit of a following from the Pacific caucus, but that’s an example of effectively ensuring that there is an important message that’s getting out to our communities: that we need to do things differently, that we need to go to all the nooks, all the crannies, all over New Zealand to ensure that people have the message, they have an opportunity, they know that it’s safe, they know that’s it free, they know that it’s accessible, and, at the end of the day, they know that it is absolutely worth it for them and their whānau.

In Palmerston North, I want to acknowledge the hard-working local folk. Just on Sunday, when I was driving past my community Central Energy Trust Arena: people inside the arena involved in that vaccination clinic, those out in the carpark who were dealing with the logistics, my colleague referred to essential workers in supermarkets and elsewhere—they all have a really significant and an important role to make sure that our communities continue to be safe.

Next week, I will go to Te Waka Huia a Manawatu Trust, which is located in the Westbrook-Highbury community in Palmerston North. It is accessible and available to all, but primarily a huge push to support our Māori and Pasifika communities. I’ll have my second dose there, and I know that others will as well. This is a great opportunity to ensure that everyone in our community, no matter if you’re in Palmerston North or anywhere else, knows that they are able to access the vaccine and that it is the right thing to do.

Just finally, I want to touch on funding for the police. And I want to say meitaki maata to my colleague the Hon Poto Williams for her recent announcement in terms of significant investments in front-line support and safety. And I think that it is timely today to acknowledge, as many members in this House acknowledge, that it is Police Remembrance Day, and this is the week where we acknowledge that. But I am proud to be part of a Government that is taking safety for our community seriously, and that we have the action to back that up. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise as the member of Parliament for Southland and the National Party spokesperson for rural communities and associate spokesperson for tourism. The thing I’ve been hearing again and again and again as I go around my communities in Southland is that we need a plan. We need to know where we are headed. It is uncertain times—COVID keeps throwing curve balls; that is granted—and there needs to be a plan for how we move forwards as a country, especially as we see that many other countries are starting to remove lockdowns, remove restrictions, and get on with it.

Unfortunately, this Government has not done so, and today the National Party has delivered a plan, a very carefully thought-through plan with 10 pillars to it, that gives us a real, pragmatic road map for the future and how we will get there. It is over time that we get on with it. In my region, I have Queenstown, for example—90 percent of local businesses report they’ve lost turnover of up to $100,000 per week during level 4, and 25 percent report that they do not expect to survive the recent lockdowns.

It is tough, tough times. We feel for Auckland, which is still in level 3, and it’s experiencing significant challenges of its own. We also know that over 50 percent of domestic tourists to Queenstown come from Auckland, and it is a community that we hugely value in that region. This town is built on an experience that requires human contact—the tourism, accommodation, hospitality providers. The South Island has not had a case of COVID since May 2020. I’ve heard from businesses who have borrowed against their homes to keep their businesses going and their staff employed, but they are running out of money. They need a plan and a plan for the future.

I’ve heard from businesses that they have already been at rock bottom for a long time. They’ve lost 80 to 90 percent of their turnover with borders being closed, and it’s difficult with the wage subsidy to look at another 40 percent decline that they have to prove to qualify for the wage subsidy.

If I move down through my region, I travel past Kingston, and north and south, and out to west and south and places like Athol, Garston, and Mossburn, where there are also huge challenges. This is a region that is always struggling for workers—just can’t get enough of them. We have contractors and dairy farm workers who are hugely valued in our communities but they have not been valued by this Government. We have found they have not had their residency applications processed and/or their visas rolled over, or they have been separated from their families for more than 18 months. They are leaving for Australia, they are leaving for Canada, and they are leaving for the United Kingdom—places that value their services, value their contribution to the local communities, value their contribution to the economy, and give them opportunities to become residents of those countries. And they give them opportunities to reunite with their children and their partners, their loved ones. New Zealand, shamefully, has not done this.

If I move to another part of my electorate, out towards Fiordland to the towering peaks beneath which there’s Manapōuri and Te Ānau, this is another region that is heavily dependent on tourism. I’ve heard from operators there that think their domestic tourism is probably reliant on roughly 70 percent of those coming from Auckland. So the lockdown pain that has been felt in Auckland has also been felt as far away as Fiordland, and deeply. I am hearing that there is a lot of fatigue in the community. They dealt first, early last year, with the loss of tourism from China, then the floods in February, and then they had the lockdowns, the loss of international tourism, and now the loss of most of their domestic tourism.

I’m hearing from community groups that are struggling. People who would normally donate money to community organisations and give food that could be handed out to less fortunate members of the community can no longer afford to do so. I’m hearing from folks who were volunteers, providing support to the community, who are hearing tough, tough stories that they are not trained or equipped to deal with, but they are doing their best to support their community.

If I move on to Lumsden, the shortage of teachers in that region of New Zealand has meant they haven’t been able to find the third early childhood teacher they need to keep the early learning centre, with 33 kids, open. This is a community that already lost is maternity birthing centre previously. We need to support these people.

Xiexie, Mr Speaker. There are many things I love about Kiwis. I love that we care and I love that we understand how important it is to work as a team, to benefit all of us—

💬 SPEAKER: No. Order! Order! I warned Mr Eagle about his beak yesterday! Please put it away. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I said, I love how we continually punch above our weight, I love how we continually achieve globally way above expectations for a country of this size, and I love how much we love to win. We’ve done really, really well so far in fighting COVID, and I’ll tell you why I say that.

I come from a really small island, 9 miles by 5, of a population of about 104,000. It is a little wealthier, probably, overall than New Zealand. They have good healthcare and easily controlled borders, but they’ve had 9,988 cases of COVID on that small island, and 78 deaths. That is equivalent, if we extrapolate out per capita, which I know we do love to do, to 46,000 cases of COVID and 3,750 deaths. Do you know what? That is where we’d be if we took any notice whatsoever of National’s plan—National’s plan that can be summed up in a quote by Lord Farquaad: “Some of you may die, but [that’s] a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” The difference between Jersey and New Zealand can be seen in leadership, political will, as well as that Kiwi caring and teamwork.

Do you know what? I’d love to see us lead the world with our vaccination rates, because we have enough vaccine for everyone. We are doing really well, thanks to our amazing vaccinators. I’d like to say here that Christchurch vaccinators will be leading the country. They’ve been working so hard and I’m proud of them all.

But we aren’t going to be out of the woods until we’re all safe. What that means is following initiatives like the accessible events that we’ve been seeing in Ōtautahi—Christchurch—recently, events that are low sensory with longer appointments, and New Zealand Sign Language interpreters will be provided in other areas. The University of Canterbury: a shout-out to them; they’ve got an event on 5 and 6 October that will give you a free burger with your vaccine.

So let’s get our competitive spirit going. Let’s not sit at the bottom of the world. Let’s lead the world. Let’s not tolerate that 90 percent; let’s go higher. Let’s lead the world, but let’s bring everybody with us. Let’s make sure that we bring our youth with us. Let’s bring Māori with us. Let’s bring Pasifika with us. Let’s bring our vulnerable communities, our disabled communities with us. Let’s acknowledge the really hard work of those vaccinators. Let’s acknowledge every single one of those people that have come forward so far to get their vaccine. Let’s move forward together and enjoy one of the best vaccination rates in the world. Thank you for your time.

Tēnā koe e te Pīka, tēnā tātou e te W’are, tēnā koutou katoa e te iwi.

[Greetings, Mr Speaker, greetings to those in the House, greetings to one and all.]

It’s not often that Te Paati Māori are afforded the opportunity to talk for a short time in Parliament, particularly in debates, so we’re really keen to take this moment. I guess it’s because we’re often talking about what we have to do next, and today we’d like to talk and reflect on what we have done, and also taking on board, you know, kāore te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka. The kūmara doesn’t talk or speak of its own sweetness. But we are not kūmara. In fact, we are gardeners. Tangata w’enua always have been gardeners. Te Paati Māori did not grow in the ground; we grew from the ground. We represent a grassroots movement that was built from the ground up, proudly. A tangata w’enua movement that has overcome all odds just to be here. It was only last year that every political analyst, every media analyst, was saying Te Paati Māori were dead in the water, that we would be swept up by the incoming red wave. Minister Willie Jackson himself said he was here to destroy Te Paati Māori, yet here we are constructively working with the Government and also boldly holding it to task.

Just as our two-for-one campaign, we have shown tangata w’enua’s style of politics is much different than we have seen in the left and the right. So just like our sister Chlöe did in Auckland Central, Rawiri proved them wrong in Waiariki. Just as they were coming to terms with the return of Te Paati Māori, I picked up my surfboard and rode that red wave straight into Parliament beside him. Here we now have two cheeky Māori pebbles in your shoes who stopped a tidal wave and started making waves of our own. Two small voices in a large choir of tone-deaf politicians. But man, can we sing—and, I understand, popular on TikTok.

I’m going to remind what we have done. Aside from having the most kicked out co-leader, we have seen and been around, in this short time, seen the purchase of Ihumātao; the removal of barriers to establishing Māori wards; the procurement of 5 percent, which is still off our 25 percent; the replacement of Oranga Tamariki chief executive with a Māori leader—now, Oranga Tamariki, that still has a long way to go—[Interruption]—investigations into our broken criminal justice system, which I believe Minister Davis knows very well; the public holiday recognition for Matariki; te reo Māori and Māori history in schools; new investment in kōhanga reo and Whānau Ora; ratings reform for w’enua Māori; a new Māori Health Authority; seabed mining member’s bill; and the Māori targeted housing package.

While I commend the Government for reading Te Paati Māori’s manifesto and adopting many of our policies in the last Budget, it seems they have a lot more reading to do. Our primary healthcare is severely underfunded. We have underfunded dental care. Ambulance services still beg for funding every year to stay operating. And the Government refuses to fund lifesaving cancer drugs that are funded in comparative countries. They have also failed dismally to lower the cancer screening age for Māori to reflect the fact that we die 10 years earlier than Pākehā.

So while I have listed just some of the progressive changes we have effected in holding this Government to task, this House better be ready for a whole lot more. We will keep fighting for a health system that actually works in keeping our people well and protecting our w’akapapa as tangata w’enua. We will keep fighting to end the shameful disparities in income for Māori. We are here to undo the decades of under-investment, deregulation, and the gutting of social security systems that has caused this. We will continue to call out the Minister responsible for Oranga Tamariki. As the only restrained tangata w’enua party in Parliament, we are here to be an unapologetic voice for tino rangatiratanga, to rebalance the scales of power in Aotearoa, and realise the partnership that was envisaged. Mā te Māori ki te Māori mō te Māori e ai ki te Māori. By Māori, to Māori, for Māori, and according to Māori.

As my tungāne has said, a new Aotearoa is on the rise. When you told us we couldn’t wear our taonga, we made you change the rules. I dare you to tell us we cannot restore this country’s name back to Aotearoa. Nō reira, e hoa mā, e te W’are, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to take a call in this debate. I’d also like to begin by acknowledging those who are in Auckland who are either watching this or who are listening to this debate; I acknowledge the challenging time for individuals in Auckland and also for businesses—particularly small businesses up in Auckland at the moment.

I stand by this Government’s COVID response. As a backbench MP in this Government, I acknowledge the work of our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern; our COVID Minister, the Hon Chris Hipkins; and the other Ministers for the decisions that they have made throughout this COVID pandemic. If we compare the situation we are in in New Zealand to the situation other countries are in, I think it’s quite clear that this Government have made good, strong decisions on COVID, based on health advice—putting the health response first.

But what seems to happen is the Government does a good job on COVID, and then all of a sudden the Opposition—the National Party and the ACT Party—turn around and say, “Let’s open borders up. First of all, let’s open them up to Australia.” We’re like, “Well, hang on a minute, let’s just be careful, let’s just tread carefully.” And we carefully moved through. Then all of a sudden, things tend to settle down a little bit, and again, “Open them up.” Things start to settle down, the vaccine starts rolling out, “Open them up.” That sort of haphazard approach is not the approach we need to COVID. We need to take a careful, cautious health response to COVID; that’s what has served us well.

So it came as no surprise when we heard the announcement from the National Party: “Open. Throw things open.” Well, that’s not the kind of approach that this Government is taking. We’re taking a careful, considered approach, putting the safety and health of New Zealanders first.

I’d like to touch on the announcement recently by the Hon Kris Faafoi, in terms of Government support, particularly around the commercial rent. Now, before this announcement, I heard from quite a few business owners who were having a challenging time paying their rent—obviously, in terms of COVID—and then working with their landlords. The discussions were in a difficult place. They were telling me, “We need some support from the Government”, in terms of working through the situation.

I’d like to give a couple of local examples. One Hamilton accommodation provider, during the previous lockdown—I’m going back to last year—this person engaged with their landlord, and, basically, the landlord just said, “Look, I won’t talk to you. There’s no discussion to be had.” The landlord actually issued them with an eviction notice, whereas the tenant, all they were asking for was to be able to sit down and have a conversation to work through it. Another one was a bar owner; similar situation. So what the Government have done is put some supports in place whereby these business owners can have constructive conversations with their landlords, taking into account COVID. Because the reality is, when these leases were written, no one predicted a global pandemic and people being locked down, businesses being shut. It was probably the furthest thing from people’s minds when these leases were written. So I appreciate the leadership that the Government are showing in that space, and those business owners who have been talking to me also appreciate that.

I’d like to touch on the New Zealand economy. I think it’s quite clear that we have seen the resilience of the New Zealand economy during this time. Yes, we’ve been underpinned by a strong agricultural sector, which is certainly appreciated by this Government, and also a tech sector, which really hasn’t missed a beat—a growing tech sector. I read some reports which say that the tech sector is our second biggest contributor to exports at the moment, behind agriculture. It’s a sector that is growing very quickly, and there are more opportunities every day in this sector. So the diversification that’s been happening in the New Zealand economy over recent years, under successive Governments, has certainly held us in good stead.

In my final few seconds, I’d just like to touch on the support the Government have given the New Zealand economy through infrastructure investment, and that has also helped us through this COVID time. Whether it’s infrastructure investment in schools, hospitals; whether it’s the Provincial Growth Fund, the Infrastructure Reference Group funds. So this Government, instead of looking at an austere model, instead we’ve been investing—we’ve been investing in the key areas that create jobs and keep our economy going. I’m proud of the response of this Government, and we will continue to take a careful, cautious approach, putting New Zealanders first.

The debate having concluded, the motion lapsed.